Weather News

Round two of farm finance loans opens

The second round for applications for a farm finance concessional loan opens today.

Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority (QRAA) CEO Colin Holden says the big change from the first round is an increase in the upper limit on loans available from $650,000 to $1 million.

He explains less than 50 per cent of applications were approved in the first round.

"The main reasons people weren't being approved ranges from them not demonstrating viability to not demonstrating a need for concessional loans in their applications."

He says he expects considerably more applications to be lodged in the second round, after 91 applications in the first round.

Chairman of the Northern Gulf Graziers Group, John Bethel, says there a few reasons people have been deterred from applying.

"It's a very complex application process."

"The feedback I've been getting is people don't think it's worth the pain of the paperwork and effort to get the funding," he says.

"People are not in a position to take on any more debt and you're basically replacing existing debt with a lower interest rate but the thing is, it has to be paid back within five years, which is not possible in the current conditions."

For more information on the second round of farm finance concessional loans, visit www.qraa.qld.gov.au

Strong and damaging winds in Sydney have caused flight delays and power outages, as the NSW Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a severe weather warning for the city and other parts of the state on Friday and Saturday.